I’LL BE HOT FOR CHRISTMAS

An erotic interlude with the characters of

THE ASSIGNMENT

Evangeline Anderson

®

www.loose-id.com

Warning

This e-book contains sexually explicit scenes and adult language and may be considered
offensive to some readers. Loose Id® e-books are for sale to adults ONLY, as defined by the
laws of the country in which you made your purchase. Please store your files wisely, where they
cannot be accessed by under-aged readers.

* * * * *

This book contains explicit sexual content, graphic language, and situations that some readers

may find objectionable (homoerotic sex).

I’ll Be Hot for Christmas

Evangeline Anderson

This e-book is a work of fiction. While reference might be made to actual historical events or
existing locations, the names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the
author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to actual persons, living or
dead, business establishments, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Published by

Loose Id LLC

1802 N Carson Street, Suite 212-2924

Carson CityNV89701-1215

www.loose-id.com

Copyright © December 2006 by Evangeline Anderson

All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the purchaser of this e-book ONLY. No part of this
e-book may be reproduced or shared in any form, including, but not limited to printing,
photocopying, faxing, or emailing without prior written permission from Loose Id LLC.

ISBN 978-1-59632-398-8

Available in Adobe PDF, HTML, MobiPocket, and MS Reader

Printed in the United States of America

Editor: Karen W. Williams

Cover Artist: April Martinez

Chapter One

Detective Sean O’Brian had finally had enough. It had been a solid month since he and Valenti

had gotten any kind of action and he was sick of it. As he pulled his sleek ’82 Chrysler Cordoba into
a spot at the SpaldingConvention Center downtown, O’Brian reflected that no, it had been longer than
a month. Because the last time he could remember getting so much as a kind word, let alone anything
else from Valenti was the night before the shooting incident.

He sighed and ran a hand through his thick, reddish blond hair as he got out of the car. “Damn

shame, babe,” he muttered, picturing Valenti’s wounded brown eyes when Captain Harris had
assigned him to “administrative leave” until the incident could be cleared through Internal Affairs. It
was only supposed to take a week -- two weeks tops. But those IA bastards were taking their time
and O’Brian knew that Valenti had been called in and grilled on at least three separate occasions.
Even though several eye witnesses had testified that the junkie Valenti took down had been
threatening him and O’Brian with a gun of his own, they still couldn’t let it drop. And until they did,
Valenti was a desk jockey and O’Brian was stuck with a new partner -- a rookie so wet behind the
ears O’Brian had the urge to turn him around and look for the apron strings that were surely still
attached.

Valenti had become irritable and depressed. He had also become hyper aware of the dangerous

secret he and O’Brian shared -- the fact that ever since coming back from an undercover assignment at
The RamJack, a notorious gay club in San Francisco, their partnership had grown to a whole new
level. That they were lovers as well as partners -- or had been, anyway, before this whole miserable
thing began.

It had been almost a year since they had admitted their feeling for each other and started an

exclusive relationship -- one that was based on mutual respect as much as it was on the white-hot
passion that flared between them. It had come as a complete surprise because neither partner had ever
been attracted to another man before. But just because he’d never desired another man before Valenti
didn’t mean O’Brian found the sight of his tall, dark partner down on his knees taking O’Brian’s thick
cock down his throat any less exciting. God, just thinking about it was enough to give him an almost
painful hard-on. Now if only he could get his stubborn partner to do something about it, they might be
back in business, he reflected as he left the parking area and headed for the convention center.

Even before they had taken their partnership and friendship to the next level, O’Brian and Valenti

had been all over each other -- always hugging and touching and generally just invading the hell out of
each other’s space. It was part of their partnership, part of what they were known for, and it was their
easy way around each other that had landed them the RamJack assignment in the first place. But since
the shooting incident and the IA investigation that had followed, Valenti flinched if O’Brian so much
as touched him in public. In fact, just that afternoon O’Brian had come up behind his partner, who was
sitting at his desk doing paperwork and looking tense, and tried to give him a neck rub. Valenti had
flinched and pushed his hands away.

“Get off me, O’Brian,” he muttered, his brown eyes scanning the crowded bullpen to see if any

of the other officers had noticed the public display of affection. “We’re in public here.”

“Yeah, so?” O’Brian plopped himself down onto his partner’s desk, sitting on the paperwork

Valenti was working on and frowned.

“So? So we need to be a little more careful.” Valenti’s voice was low and worried. “A little

more discreet. Could you get off my paperwork, please?”

“No. Look, Valenti,” O’Brian said in what he thought was a reasonably low tone of voice. “We

been nothin’ but discreet for the past month. In fact, if we get any more discreet I’m gonna die of blue
balls. Cut me a break here, huh?’

“Keep it down!” Valenti hissed, frowning at him fiercely. “You don’t know who’s listening.”

“I know I don’t give a damn.” O’Brian began to get angry at that point. For the past month or

longer he had been putting up with his partner’s stand-offish attitude and sudden paranoia, but it was
getting pretty old, in his opinion.

“Well I do give a damn whether we flush our careers down the toilet,” Valenti answered.

“Flush our careers down the ... what the hell are you talkin’ about, Valenti?” O’Brian demanded.

“Ya know, up until about a month ago, you and me always used to be all over each other. People
talked, sure, but we didn’t care. I mean, even after we came back from the RamJack and people talked
even more, we still didn’t care. But now …” He shook his head. “I don’t know -- it’s like you
changed all of a sudden. And I don’t think it’s just the whole shooting thing and the IA givin’ you hell,
either. There’s somethin’ else goin’ on in that thick skull of yours. So what gives?”

“I haven’t changed. And all that ... the way we acted, I mean ... that was before.” Valenti

muttered, looking away and refusing to meet O’Brian’s concerned green eyes.

“Before what?” O’Brian demanded. “Before this shooting thing? Or before whatever it is you’re

not tellin’ me?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Valenti made an effort to get back to his paperwork

but O’Brian had his round, firm ass planted squarely on top of it and he wasn’t budging until he’d had
his say.

“Damnit, Valenti, I know things’ve been rough the last month or so but that’s all gonna change.

Things are gonna get better. And even if they don’t, I’m here for you, just like always.”

“Yeah, yeah ...” But Valenti’s prickly exterior looked like it was melting a little. His big brown

eyes looked softer and the broad shoulders beneath his crisp, white cotton shirt didn’t look quite so
tense. It made O’Brian long to take him back to his apartment and give him a long, slow, sensual
massage just as he had when they were undercover at the RamJack. Just the thought of that, of kneeling

over his partner’s long, lean, muscular body while they were both nude as he touched and stroked and
kissed until Valenti turned over and begged to be sucked made O’Brian’s heavy cock shift inside the
skin-tight pants he was wearing. He seized the opportunity to lean down and whisper into his
partner’s ear.

“’S gonna be all right, Nick. I just want you to know I feel the same way I always have. I still

want you. Still need you. And that’s not gonna stop any time soon.” O’Brian used his partner’s first
name on purpose, knowing that it got to Valenti like nothing else could. Sure enough, when Valenti
finally looked up and met his eyes, it looked like O’Brian’s tall, dark partner was really beginning to
thaw.

“Sean,” he murmured, daring to place one hand on O’Brian’s knee. Just that one simple touch

when they hadn’t been together in so long made O’Brian go from half-mast to hard as a rock in a split
second.

“Yeah, babe?” he said in a low, intimate voice.

“It’s not that I don’t feel the same way,” Valenti said. “I just thought --”

“Hey, guys, what’s goin’ on?” The voice of Billy Hicks, O’Brian’s temporary partner cut into

their conversation and Valenti pulled his hand away from O’Brian’s knee like he’d touched something
hot.

O'Brian felt like punching the desk in frustration. The first half-way decent conversation he’d had

with Valenti in a month and this stupid kid had to break in on it.

“Nothin,’ junior,” he growled, rounding to face his temporary partner, who was grinning at them

uncertainly with an aw-shucks innocence the mean streets of LA hadn’t managed to extinguish yet. He
was a cute enough kid in his way, O’Brian supposed, with his farm-raised, corn-fed strapping
physique and seven perfect freckles across the bridge of his snub nose. Someday he would make
some lucky girl very happy but for now he was driving O’Brian nuts.

“No, seriously, guys, is everything all right? You looked, uh, really serious so I though maybe we

had a new case -- partner.” He nudged O’Brian playfully who nudged him back, maybe a little harder
than was absolutely necessary.

“Nothin’ going on over here but a personal conversation,” he said pointedly. The last thing he

needed right then was to have this numb-nuts reminding Valenti that he was stuck riding a desk while
O’Brian was out on the streets without him. But from the look in his partner’s cold brown eyes, it was
too late.

“Actually, I really need to get back to work,” Valenti said, looking pointedly at the spot on his

desk where O’Brian’s ass was planted. “Do you mind? I owe the Captain these reports by five.”

“Why so early?” O’Brian asked angrily. “You been stayin’ here to seven, eight o’clock every

night, wearin’ yourself out. Too tired to go out and have any fun. Too tired to …” He trailed off when
he realized that both Valenti and Hicks were staring at him.

“Hey, you guys go out together every night, don’t you?” Hicks said, staring between the two of

them. “I heard you two were tight, but, man -- spending that much time with your coworkers has got to
be kind of tiring.”

“More so lately than usual,” Valenti said through gritted teeth. “Detective O’Brian, would you

please move your ass off my desk so I can finish these?”

“Not until you tell me why you’re wrappin’ it up early tonight,” O’Brian declared stubbornly. “Is

it because …” His heart jumped suddenly in his chest as hope flooded him. “Because tonight it’s uh,
almost exactly one year?”

“One year?” Valenti looked at him blankly.

“Yeah, you know, one year since The RamJack.” O’Brian lifted an eyebrow pointedly. Surely

his partner hadn’t forgotten their one-year anniversary, which was coming up on December fifth. It
was kind of nice that it was near Christmas, O’Brian mused. Back at the time they had been
undercover, they had been too focused on their goal of taking down drug kingpin Vincent Conrad to
consider the season. But this year O’Brian was already thinking about what he could get his partner
for a present -- if he remembered to show up for the celebration, that is.

“Oh, man, I heard about that RamJack thing!” Hicks exclaimed, breaking his train of thought.

“Wasn’t that the case where you guys --”

“Busted the biggest drug ring in the state?” Valenti interrupted him smoothly.

“Exactly,” O’Brian said. “So that’s why you’re getting’ off early, right? So we can celebrate?”

“Not exactly.” Valenti sighed loudly. “I’m going to the Christmas benefit tonight for All

Children’s Hospital. Captain Harris asked me to bring the check the Metro PD raised to the chairman
of their board and represent the department. Is that okay with you?” He voice dripped sarcasm.

“Fine.” O’Brian slid off the desk and tried for a nonchalant tone of voice. “So, you bringin’ a

date? One of …” He cleared his throat and cast a quick glance at Hicks who was still following their
conversation avidly. “One of the girls from the typing pool, maybe?”

Valenti shot him a glare. “So what if I am?”

O’Brian just looked at him, unable to keep the hurt off his face. Finally his partner relented.

“No,” he said sullenly, crossing his arms over his chest. “The Captain only had one ticket. So

I’m going solo. Anyway, it’s not like I want to be handcuffed to some good looking bubblehead all
night.” Inexplicably his brown eyes flickered up to the uncomprehending Hicks for a second, before

shifting back to the paperwork on his desk.

O’Brian felt a sudden loosening in the muscles of his chest. Thank God Valenti was going solo.

Lately he’d been wondering if the extra conflict he sensed within his partner was an attraction to
someone else. Maybe another guy on the force. Or even worse, Valenti might have decided to go back
to the ladies. There wasn’t much O’Brian could do about that -- he had the wrong kind of equipment
for that kind of competition. Like taking a vaulting pole to a breast-stroke event, he thought wryly.
But the way Valenti had phrased it -- being handcuffed to some good looking bubblehead all night --
now, that hurt. Was that what he thought of O’Brian now? Wait a minute ... he thought. Being
handcuffed ... suddenly an idea was born.

“So you’re gonna be at the benefit how long?” he asked casually, pretending to study his

fingernails. From the corner of his eye he saw his partner giving him a suspicious look but at least
Valenti answered.

“The benefit starts at seven and goes to midnight,” he said shortly. “Satisfied?”

“No.” O’Brian smirked at his partner. “But I will be, I promise you that, babe. See ya.” And he

headed out of the bullpen with Hicks trailing him like a lost puppy dog. Nothing against the kid but
O’Brian was going to be damn glad to shake him -- he was tired of playing babysitter. But until
Valenti came off desk duty, he was stuck with him.

“Hey, Detective O’Brian, it’s too bad Detective Valenti can’t go out with you tonight.”

“Yeah, too bad,” O'Brian agreed distractedly.

“Do you wanna go grab a cold one with me instead when we get off?” Hicks ventured hopefully.

O'Brian looked back to see that Valenti was watching them with narrowed eyes. Thinking it was

the perfect opportunity to throw a little dirt on the trail, O'Brian nodded. “Sure, kid. Name the time
and place.” Of course when his trainee partner had done just that and he was sure they were clear of
Valenti’s sharp hearing, O’Brian shook his head and looked doubtful. “Oh, don’t know if I can make
that -- it’s kinda far for me and I just now remembered I was gonna come in early and do some
paperwork tomorrow.”

“But tomorrow’s Saturday,” Hicks protested. “You never do paperwork on the weekends unless

Captain Harris forces you to.”

“Well, I’m making an exception. Don’t worry about it.” O’Brian patted the kid on the cheek and

walked off. Mission accomplished. Now he just had to work out the details of his plan for that night
…

Chapter Two

The scrape of his tennis shoes against the steps of the convention center shook the memory of that

afternoon at the Metro and brought O’Brian back to the here and now. He hadn’t dressed up for the
benefit and he knew he was going look out of place with the ritzy crowd inside but he didn’t care. His
skin-tight jeans and T-shirt when everyone else was wearing tails and tuxes was all part of the
strategy. Whistling, he made his way through the massive lobby, tastefully decorated in red, green,
and gold to the place where the All Children’s benefit was taking place.

“Sorry, sir, no one’s allowed without an invitation.” The beefy guard at the door of the grand

ballroom reminded O’Brian of Conrad’s goons at the RamJack -- each one uglier than the last and all
of them built like tanks.

“Here’s my invitation.” He shoved his gold detective’s badge under the guy’s nose, pleased as

always to see the instant change it engendered.

“Uh, sorry, officer.” The guard looked sullen now, his authority trumped by O’Brian’s badge.

“Go on in. They’re still just doing cocktails, anyway.”

“As a matter of fact, a cocktail is right up my alley.” O’Brian flashed him a toothy grin and

shoved open the double doors to find himself in the middle of what looked like a best dressed contest.

Women in silk and satin evening gowns and elegant up-dos mingled with men wearing tuxes and

bow ties, all of them sipping tall, slender flutes of champagne carried on trays by white-aproned
waiters. O’Brian grabbed a flute off a passing tray and downed it in one long swallow, then put it on
another tray as a second waiter passed by. Ignoring the confused and disdainful looks he was getting
from the well dressed benefit attendees all around him, he began threading his way through the crowd,
looking for Valenti.

It didn’t take him long to see his partner, standing head and shoulders above the other men in the

room at the far end of the ballroom. He was standing next to the tastefully decorated Christmas tree,
deep in conversation with an older, distinguished looking man with iron-gray hair and serious eyes.
O’Brian didn’t waste time looking at the other man though; he had eyes for nobody but Valenti.
Standing there cool and distinguished in his fitted black tux, his tall partner looked every inch a rich,
refined gentleman, reminding O’Brian again of their time spent undercover when his partner had
played “Daddy” to O’Brian’s “boy.” Damn, it had really pissed him off that he had to be the “boy” at
first, but he had certainly made the most of the role, tormenting his sexually frustrated partner until
both of them lost it completely.

Just thinking of the very first time they had ever made love -- the first time they had ever fucked,

to put it crudely -- put a lump in O’Brian’s pants. The way Valenti had been all over him, the things
he had whispered to his partner to enflame him to action. Do it, Valenti. Can’t wait any longer. Need
to have you in me. Need to feel you fuck me. O’Brian’s own words came back to haunt him as he
watched his partner, his best friend, his lover conversing quietly in the crowded ballroom. God, he

wanted this man so badly he ached! And yet lately it felt like Valenti was slipping further and further
away from him.

Well, not any more, O’Brian decided. Squaring his shoulders, he pressed through the crowd and

wound up right behind his partner.

“… a very important contribution,” the gray-haired man was saying, and Valenti nodded.

“Absolutely, and the PD is more than glad to help, Chairman Tanner. I --”

“Excuse me.” O’Brian tapped his partner on the shoulder and Valenti turned, a surprised look on

his face. “O’Brian,” he said blankly. “What are you doing here dressed like that?”

“Sorry I didn’t have time to put on a monkey suit,” O’Brian said sarcastically. “But I came here

in kinda a hurry. Sorry to drag you away from your fancy party but we have a situation to deal with.”

“What? What are you talking about?” Valenti looked confused as O’Brian hooked him by the

elbow and began pulling him through the crowd. “That was Chairman Tanner, the head of the hospital
board of directors,” he hissed at O’Brian as they wove through the richly dressed crowd.

“I don’t care if he was Santa Claus and the pope all wrapped up in one,” O’Brian growled, still

tugging his partner towards the exit. “You’re comin’ with me.”

“But why?” Valenti continued to protest, but at least his feet were still moving, a situation

O’Brian didn’t expect to last long. He tugged harder.

“It’s urgent,” he said vaguely. “And we’re the only two guys on the force that can handle it. You

gotta come with me, Valenti. And hurry!”

O’Brian kept dodging his partner’s pointed questions until they were out in the parking area

across from the convention center. But when it came to actually getting into O’Brian’s ’82 Cordoba,
Valenti balked.

“Look, what is this all about?” he demanded for what felt like the fiftieth time. “And don’t just

tell me it’s urgent -- I want to know where the hell we’re going and what’s going on.”

“I’ll tell you what’s going on.” O’Brian pushed his surprised partner up against the side of the

car and grabbed both his arms. Before Valenti knew what was happening, O’Brian had whipped out
his silver police issue cuffs and had them fitted snugly around his partner’s wrists.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Valenti stared down at his cuffed wrists in

amazement. “Have you gone crazy?”

“You could say that,” O’Brian said grimly. “Crazy or horny, one of the two. Either way, you’re

comin’ with me.”

“I am not.” Valenti rattled the cuffs threateningly. “Get me out of these and let me go back to the

benefit.”

“Nope.” O’Brian whipped a black bandana out of his hip pocket. Before Valenti could protest,

he was blindfolded and in the front seat of the Cordoba, his hands folded neatly in his lap. O’Brian
smiled as he shut the door on his dumbfounded partner. Nobody was better at “cuff ‘em and stuff ‘em”
than he was -- Valenti ought to know that by now. But his partner had other things on his mind than
O’Brian’s law enforcement prowess at the moment -- like escape.

“You let me out of here right now,” he snarled as O’Brian started the engine. “Or I swear to God

--”

“Nick,” O’Brian interrupted him gently. “Do I hafta gag you too?”

“I --” Valenti began but O’Brian reached over and cupped his partner’s strong chin in one hand,

tracing Valenti’s full mouth with his thumb.

“Don’t make me do it, Nick,” he murmured. “Not when I can think of so many better ways to use

that beautiful mouth.”

Valenti was abruptly silent and O’Brian could feel his partner’s hot breath against his fingers as

he drove. Just touching Valenti again, no matter how little, made him hard as a brick. Suddenly the
distance between the convention center and his apartment seemed a lot longer. But he knew when he
got there, he was going to give his partner an evening to remember -- he just hoped Valenti would
forgive him afterwards.

Chapter Three

The minute O’Brian got his silent partner out of the door and into his apartment, he dragged

Valenti directly into the bedroom. He’d had other things planned, romantic things, but right that minute
he wasn’t feeling the least bit romantic. His cock was aching with an entire month of pent up desire
and he didn’t have time for hearts and flowers.

“O’Brian, what the hell --?” Valenti began again as O’Brian slapped the bedroom door closed

behind them.

“Shut up,” O’Brian growled. He pushed his partner down on the bed and uncuffed Valenti’s right

wrist just long enough to strip off the beautifully tailored tux jacket and the crisp white dress shirt
underneath. He ran both hands over the hard, muscular planes of his partner’s smooth, brown chest,
reveling in the feel of the masculine body under his fingertips. Gently he pinched the small, flat,
copper-colored disks of Valenti’s nipples, then leaned down to lap at one eagerly until his partner
hissed with the hot sensation.

“O’Brian…!” he gasped. Far from slowing him down, the tortured moan pushed all O’Brian’s

buttons. He sucked at the other nipple, stopping to nip it sharply and then lapped it gently to ease the
sharp little pain. The long, lean body writhed under his assault.

God, but his partner’s skin tasted good—hot and salty, with just a hint of bitterness. Valenti had a

warm, earthy scent O’Brian associated with fucking. This was the scent that had filled his senses the
first time Valenti rode him, filled him with his long cock, fucked him until he came deep in O’Brian’s
body. This was the scent of his partner, his friend, his lover -- it was desire and need and coming
home all at once and it had been too damn long since O’Brian had gotten close enough to fill his lungs
with it.

“God!” Valenti, still blindfolded, was shivering with the hot feeling of being licked and stroked

all over but O’Brian wasn’t done yet -- not by a long shot. Grabbing Valenti’s wrists, he brought them
up to the top of the big brass bed. Then he snapped them closed again, effectively trapping his partner
in a helpless position with his arms over his head.

“What are you going to do to me?” Valenti’s voice was rough with fear and desire.

“Have you ever heard of the Spanish Inquisition?” O’Brian asked, not bothering to answer the

question.

“Huh?” Valenti moved his head blindly, the black bandana still obscuring his vision. “The

Spanish Inquisition?”

“You oughta know this stuff, Corazón,” O’Brian mocked him, using his abuelita’s nickname, the

one he knew Valenti hated. “It’s in your blood. Anyway, what it boils down to is during the Spanish
Inquisition the bad guy priests tortured people until they told the truth.”

“So what does that have to do with this?” Valenti demanded, rattling the handcuffs against the

brass headboard.

“Actually, a helluva lot, babe,” O’Brian told him, going to work on his partner’s black dress

pants. “See, I may not be a priest, but I am the bad guy in this situation. And I’m gonna torture you
until you tell me what the hell has been bothering you lately. Why you’ve been givin’ me the cold
shoulder, why you’re always too busy to come over or go out after work, but mostly why we haven’t
fucked in over a month. Got that?” He stripped off his partner’s pants and underwear, taking the shoes
and socks along with them and leaving Valenti nude on the dark blue bedspread.

“O’Brian, this is crazy!” Valenti protested.

“No, the way you’ve been actin’ is crazy.” O’Brian toed off his shoes but kept the rest of his

clothes on. He liked the idea of having his partner naked and helpless under him and wanted the
psychological edge of wearing clothes while Valenti had none.

“O’Brian, I --”

“What’s been botherin’ you, Nick?” O’Brian straddled his partner’s lean hips and settled himself

comfortably so that the thick bulge at the crotch of his jeans was rubbing directly against Valenti’s
already half-hard cock. Valenti groaned at the contact as O’Brian rubbed against him, their shafts
grinding together through the layer of denim.

“Don’t know ... don’t know what you’re talking about,” he gasped.

“Oh, I think you do.” Reaching down, O’Brian shifted so he could wrap his fingers around the

long, pulsing shaft. Slowly he stroked from the root up to the flaring head. Precum was already
beading at the tip of Valenti’s cock and O’Brian captured some with his thumb, using it for lubrication
on the next long, slow stroke. It still amazed him that he wanted another man this much, that his
partner’s long, lean, muscular body could make him hotter than any curvy naked woman ever had. He
knew why it was, though -- he and Valenti connected on much more than the physical plane. They had
a bond so deep and wide nothing could break it -- not even Valenti’s little secret, whatever it was.

He admired the way Valenti’s muscles shifted under his smooth, tanned skin as he writhed on the

bed, loved the crisp black hair that lay in disarray across his high forehead, the red lips, open in a
harsh, panting moan. But most of all O’Brian loved the feel of his partner’s thick cock in his hand, the
tender, vulnerable sac that O’Brian knew exactly how to tickle to make Valenti groan. He’d never
dreamed that having the same equipment as your lover could be such an advantage before he and
Valenti had taken the next step in their relationship. Had never dreamed he could get so much
pleasure from the feel of another man’s cock in his hand, in his mouth, from the taste of another man’s
cum on his tongue.

“Remember the first time you jerked me off, Valenti?” he asked, still stroking his partner’s

aching shaft. “That Wankathon contest at The RamJack?”

“God, yes!” Valenti groaned as O’Brian continued to fist him.

“I remember the way you took charge of me,” O’Brian said, lost in the memory. “The way you

made me hold still while you jerked me off. You stroked me just like this …” He demonstrated with
another long, slow caress of his partner’s hard cock until Valenti was panting. “Made me come so
hard I saw stars,” O’Brian told him. “Remember that?”

“How ... how could I forget it?” Valenti asked.

“I dunno. How could you? Tonight is practically our anniversary. A year ago tonight you were

fucking my brains out at The RamJack,” O’Brian reminded him. “And yet you’d rather go to some
damn stupid benefit than spend the night celebrating with me.”

“Is that what this is all about?” Valenti demanded.

“It’s more than that and you know it.” O’Brian gave him another long, slow stroke.

Valenti gasped and tried to sit up, only to be jerked back by the short chain between the cuffs. He

growled in frustration. “Look, uncuff me or at least take off this damn blindfold and we’ll talk about
it.”

“No can do, babe. Not the cuffs, at least. But here.” Leaning over, O’Brian jerked the black

bandana off his partner’s head, freeing Valenti’s eyes at last. He saw the anger in their deep brown
depths, but he saw the hunger too. That was the emotion he wanted to feed.

“Look, O’Brian,” Valenti began angrily as soon as his eyes adjusted to the dim light.

“No, you look,” O’Brian told him. Leaning over, he started at the root of his partner’s throbbing

erection and licked a long, hot trail right up to the broad, mushroom-shaped head.

“God!” Suddenly the tension in the body under O’Brian’s changed as Valenti’s body moved

seamlessly from anger to arousal.

“Remember, Nicky?” O’Brian whispered, holding eye contact with his partner as he blew a cool

stream of air along the wet trail he’d licked. “Remember the first time I ever sucked your cock?” He
leaned down and placed a hot, open-mouthed kiss on the broad head of Valenti’s shaft. “Didn’t know
what the hell I was doin’,” he continued as his partner watched, wide-eyed, no longer interrupting. “I
only knew I wanted to taste you, wanted to feel your thick cock fucking my mouth.” He lapped at the
tip of Valenti’s cock, savoring the salty, slightly bitter flavor of his partner’s precum. “Wanted to
suck you until I felt you shoot your cum down my throat,” he murmured, locking eyes with his partner
again.

“I remember the way you bucked your hips, the way you thrust up to meet me. I could feel your

hands on me in the dark -- strokin’ my hair, reachin’ down to touch my face while I sucked you, like
you couldn’t quite believe I was really doin’ it and you had to make sure. And then when you finally

let go, finally started fuckin’ your thick cock between my lips until you shot down my throat -- damn,
it was the hottest thing I’d ever experienced. The best sex I’d ever had and it was me suckin’ another
guy’s cock. You know how deep our connection has to be to make that possible?” O’Brian
demanded. “Me, who beat up every dumb jock in high school for callin’ me ‘fag’ cause I was too
little and too cute?”

“Sean …” Valenti shook his head. “I just thought …”

“You just thought you could forget all about that -- about us -- for the past month. Thought you

could skip the one-year anniversary of the time we spent at The RamJack. Thought you could keep
secrets from me and get away with it. Didn’t you?” O’Brian demanded. “Well I’m here ta let you
know you can’t, babe.” Leaning down, he lapped at the pearl of precum decorating his partner’s
throbbing crown once more before taking the long, thick cock completely down his throat.

It had taken almost a year, but O’Brian had gotten very good at deep-throating. He sucked and

swallowed his partner’s shaft, taking it deeper and deeper until he was tasting the river of warm,
salty precum at the back of his throat instead of across his tongue. If anyone had ever told him before
The RamJack that being able to suck cock correctly would be one of his proudest achievements,
O’Brian would have laid the bastard out cold. And yet, it was true. Valenti’s passionate moans and
the convulsive shivers of pleasure he felt running through the long frame beneath him was worth every
minute he’d spent attaining this strangely enjoyable skill. He only wished that he could have left at
least one of Valenti’s hands uncuffed. There was no greater pleasure than feeling his partner’s big,
warm hand carding through his hair and caressing his face while O’Brian sucked his thick cock,
urging him to come.

“God! Oh, God, Sean! Gonna ... can’t help it! Gonna …”

O’Brian felt the big muscles of his partner’s thighs turn to iron under his palms, and then

Valenti’s lean hips bucked upwards helplessly as the electric spasm of orgasm wracked him. Instead
of pulling back, O’Brian sucked harder, taking Valenti even deeper into his throat, working for the hot
flood of cum he knew was on its way.

He wasn’t disappointed. Valenti had always been a big producer and it had taken some time to

get used to swallowing his load. To get used to the idea of swallowing any man’s load, O’Brian
thought, as he drank the salty/bitter tide thirstily. And yet the pleasure he saw on his partner’s face as
he sucked out every last drop of cum did more for him than seeing a pretty woman sucking his own
cock ever had. It was the act itself -- an act of love, an expression of the bond between them that got
him every time. That and the fact that he loved making his straight-laced partner lose control.

“O’Brian ... I can’t believe …” Valenti was limp, his brown eyes melting with emotion.

“Believe it, babe,” O’Brian said shortly. “And now you better get ready to be fucked. Suckin’

your cock has me wantin’ you so bad I can’t see straight.”

Valenti went a little pale beneath his natural tan. “God, Sean, I don’t know. It’s been over a

month since we …”

“I know exactly how long it’s been,” O’Brian growled. His cock was snarling in his jeans for

release, and he pulled his T-shirt over his head and unsnapped his fly. “It’s been way too long since
I’ve buried my cock inside you and fucked you hard and long. I’m gonna ride your ass tonight, Nicky,
and you’re gonna love every minute of it.”

“God, when you talk that way …” Valenti closed his eyes briefly and took a deep, shuddering

breath before looking at O’Brian again. “How do you want me?” he asked, his deep voice soft and
tense. “Oh my hands and knees? The way we did it that first time?”

“Want you just like you are right now,” O’Brian assured him. Suddenly his heart swelled with

love for his partner, this man who was so willing to open his heart, to open his body. Who was
willing to allow O’Brian to penetrate him, to fuck him and come in him despite the fact that neither of
them had ever done anything remotely like this before they had taken their friendship to the next level.
He leaned over and kissed Valenti long and slow, just like he’d been dying to do for the entire last
month. Parting the soft red lips, he invaded his partner’s mouth, feeding Valenti the taste of his own
cum on his tongue, making the other man moan with the intensity of the kiss.

At last he drew back and fumbled in the nightstand beside him for the lube. They’d come a long

way since the jar of Vaseline he’d used the first time he fucked Valenti. The lube was cool and
smooth and allowed for easier access to resistant flesh.

Speaking of easier access, Valenti had spread his thighs and damned if his cock wasn’t half hard

again. He could say what he wanted about it being a long time since they’d done this but O’Brian
knew how much his partner needed to be fucked -- almost as much as O’Brian needed to fuck him.

“That’s right, babe,” he murmured as he spread the cool, slick lube over the tight, tender entrance

to his partner’s body. “Open up for me. I know how bad you need ta be fucked. And I know you want
me to fuck you.” O’Brian pressed two fingers into Valenti’s body, scissoring them gently to spread
him wide enough for his cock.

“Yeah, I need it,” Valenti almost snarled, his brown eyes submissive and angry at the same time.

“But I think you better remember that next time it might be you in these handcuffs, partner, and I’m not
going to forget the way you held me down and fucked me like a helpless girl.”

O’Brian’s heart leaped at the words “next time.” He was glad to hear that his partner wasn’t

planning on leaving him for good after this was over. “Nicky,” he said sincerely, “You c’n hang me
upside down and do Chinese water torture on me if you want to later. But for right now, I feel like I’m
gonna explode if I don’t get inside you soon. It’s been so damn long since we touched each other I’m
achin’ all over to be with you.”

Valenti’s eyes softened and he spread his legs wider as O’Brian continued to stretch him. “You

always did need it more than me,” he murmured, arching his back and gasping as O’Brian’s probing
fingers hit the sweet spot just over his prostate. “Even ... even back when we were still dating

women, you couldn’t go a week without getting some.”

“Nice of you to remember that now, after a month of cuttin’ me off,” O’Brian growled. He

pressed harder, deliberately rubbing over the sensitive area inside Valenti’s body until his partner’s
eyes rolled up in his head and he groaned appreciatively. “But never mind about that,” he continued.
“’Cause I think you’re ready now. Ready to get fucked, babe.”

Before Valenti could reply, O’Brian spread his partner’s legs even wider and found Valenti’s

tight rosebud with the blunt tip of his cock. Slowly he began to thrust, breaching the tight ring of
muscle as Valenti groaned and tried to be open enough for the invasion.

O’Brian got the head in and then he had to stop. Just that simple touch, the feel of his shaft

crowning inside his partner’s body was almost too much after such a long, dry time of wanting. God,
babe, love you! Love you so much! he thought, clenching his jaw and tensing his lower body to keep
from coming. He didn’t want to reach the peak until he was buried to the hilt in his lover’s body, until
they were completely and totally one.

“What ... what are you waiting for?” Valenti gasped. “And engraved invitation?” The brown

eyes were on fire now, blazing with a need that fully matched O’Brian’s own. “Come on, damnit,” he
growled. “Fuck me!”

Valenti didn’t have to ask twice. With one long, hard thrust O’Brian entered his partner’s body,

claiming him, marking him as thoroughly and completely as he had the first time he fucked Valenti.

“God!” Valenti’s hips shot off the mattress and for a moment it almost looked like he was

fighting not to try and get away. Then he took a deep, shuddering breath and opened his eyes, which
he’d squeezed close in pain and pleasure.

“You okay? Want me to stop?” His cock still throbbing angrily, O’Brian forced himself to hold

still even though every instinct he had cried out for him to thrust. He watched his partner with
concern. No matter how angry and conflicted the two of them might be, Valenti was the person he
loved most in the world, and he would die before hurting him.

“Hell no, I don’t want you to stop,” Valenti blazed, surprising him. “Fuck me, babe. I want to

feel you in me and when you’re done, I want to know I’ve been fucked. Fill me up, do it!”

“Oh, you’re gonna know, all right,” O’Brian promised. Drawing back till only the head of his

cock was buried in the tight confines of his partner’s body, he thrust back in again, filling his partner
to the limit and beyond, watching the pain and pleasure cross the dark, mobile face he loved so much
as he poured himself into Valenti’s body.

“God, Sean!” Valenti gasped, his voice hoarse with emotion. “You’re in me so deep!”

“I’ll show you deep,” O’Brian growled. He plunged forward again, relishing the tight, hot,

velvety feel of the inside of his partner’s body clinging to every inch of his shaft, igniting every single

nerve in his cock. God but Valenti was tight -- it had been so long since they’d fucked his partner was
practically a virgin again.

Valenti bucked up against him, a whole host of emotions flitting across his dark face. Love,

anger, need, lust …O’Brian watched them all come and go as he lost himself in the pleasure of filling
his partner, of taking another man’s body, of fucking Valenti senseless.

He set up a rhythm of slow, deliberate, almost brutally deep thrusts, rubbing hard over and over

Valenti’s sweet spot as his partner writhed under him, groaning and cursing with the intense, almost
unbearable pleasure/pain. Valenti’s cock was full again and O’Brian reached down to palm it as he
continued to pound into his partner’s open, willing body. He could feel the tidal wave of pleasure
coming, building like slow electricity at the base of his spine, and he wanted Valenti to come with
him, just as he had the first time they’d fucked.

“God, Sean!” Valenti grabbed handfuls of the dark blue bedspread, his teeth clenched and his

breath sobbing in his throat as O’Brian fisted his cock and pounded into him, owning him completely.
“God, that’s so incredible! Don’t stop ... don’t stop! Love your cock inside me -- love to feel you
fucking me!”

“Gonna come inside you,” O’Brian promised breathlessly. His skin was slick with sweat and he

was breathing like a bull and still he couldn’t stop. Couldn’t stop until he had put paid to this whole
business by filling his partner’s willing, unresisting body with his cum.

“Sean!” Valenti’s darkly tanned skin was sheened lightly with sweat as well, and the chain of the

cuffs was rattling in rhythm with O’Brian’s thrusts as he pressed back against him, meeting O’Brian
with everything he had. “God, do it!” he begged shamelessly. “Fuck me! Fill me up! Need you to fill
me up so bad.”

“Here it comes, babe,” O’Brian gasped, the electric tingle of orgasm rolling up his spine. The

slick heat of Valenti’s inner muscles caressing his cock was too much -- too damn much to bear
anymore. “Comin’ right now. Want to feel you comin’ with me.”

OhGodohGodohGod . So good, so Goddamn good! O’Brian thought deliriously as the shattering

wave overcame him. Feeling like his heart was going to explode, he pumped Valenti’s long, thick
shaft with one fist as he pressed hard, trying to get his own cock as deeply into his partner’s beautiful,
hot body as he could. Wanting to be one with Valenti in that special way that was only possible
during this one brief instant.

With an inarticulate cry, Valenti came. O’Brian felt a hot wetness fountaining over his hand and

then he was letting go too, pumping Valenti’s body full of his cum, filling him up with an
inexpressible relief, a pleasure so deep it bordered on pain.

“God, Nick,” he groaned, holding still inside Valenti as the hot flood gushed out of him and into

his partner, sealing their bond. “Love you so damn much, babe. Can’t even tell you. Just ... just love
you so much.” He held steady for a long moment and then sank down, his cheek pillowed on his

partner’s heaving chest.

“Love you too, Sean.” Valenti’s voice was hoarse from shouting but he sounded at peace for the

first time in over a month.

O’Brian took a deep breath, feeling his heart rate begin to slow, and looked up. “You sure got a

funny way of showin’ it,” he said mildly, giving his partner a doubtful grin.

Valenti shook his head. “I thought you were ... that you weren’t interested in me ... in us

anymore.”

O’Brian had a feeling they were finally coming to the root of the problem that had been bothering

his partner all along. “What the hell would give you a stupid idea like that?” he demanded,
withdrawing carefully from Valenti’s body and sitting back on his knees.

Valenti winced at the sudden withdrawal, then shrugged as well as he was able with his hands

still cuffed over his head. “I don’t know. The fact that I’m stuck behind that stupid desk all day long
so I can’t get your back on the streets. And …” He frowned and looked away. “That new partner of
yours -- that Billy Hicks. I know it sounds stupid but I kept thinking that he was younger, that maybe
you found him more desirable …”

“What?” O’Brian couldn’t keep the disbelief out of his voice. “You thought what? That I’d want

to be with that idiot kid instead of you?”

“Well, I --” Valenti began but O’Brian cut him off.

“Listen, partner,” he said pointing a finger at Valenti’s face and narrowing his eyes. “What the

hell are you tryin’ to say? That I’d leave you for somebody else? For another man? What do you think
I am anyway, gay?”

“Uh …” Valenti shook his head as though trying to clear some faulty information. “Sean, I hate to

point this out but you just gave me the best blow job of my entire life and swallowed a load of my
cum. Then you fucked me so hard I nearly passed out. Most people might consider that just a little bit
‘gay.’”

“Well, I’m not most people.” O’Brian folded his arms across his furry chest, still frowning.

“And I don’t consider myself gay, babe. I’m just in love with you. I don’t even look at other guys that
way. That would be just ... wrong.” He shook his head.

Valenti burst out laughing. “O’Brian, you never cease to amaze me. I guess I should have known

better.” His brown eyes filled with apology. “I mean, the way Hicks follows you around all over the
place, the way he looks at you like you’re some kind of rock star, I just assumed …”

O’Brian frowned at him. “We’re gonna pass on the little talk about what happens when you

assume,” he said. “Since I think your ass is already gonna be sore for the foreseeable future.” He

ignored Valenti’s wince and continued. “Why didn’t you just ask?” he demanded. “Why did you just
decide it was up to you to break us off? To end everything we have together? Ya know, Valenti,
you’re not just my lover …” He leaned forward and stroked the lean, tan cheek gently. “You’re my
partner and my best friend,” he continued. “I need you.”

“I need you too …” Valenti smiled at him, the first genuine smile O’Brian had seen from him

since the whole rotten shooting incident had almost ruined their relationship over a month ago. “To
uncuff me,” his partner finished, still smiling. “Swear to God, O’Brian, my arms are about to fall off.
Did you really have to resort to such extreme measures? Kidnapping me and cuffing me to the bed so
you could fuck me senseless?”

“You tell me what I was supposed to do,” O’Brian grumbled, reaching for the handcuff key,

which lay on the night table beside the bed. “I tried bein’ patient, but you just got further and further
away. I tried sweet-talk but you wouldn’t give me the time of day.” He shrugged and unlocked the
cuffs. “Under the circumstances I thought kidnappin’ you and cuffing you to the bed was my only
option. And I didn’t fuck you senseless -- the exact opposite. I’d say I fucked some sense into you just
now.”

“Regardless, it was a pretty damn fine anniversary present.” Valenti rubbed his wrists gingerly

and then sank down in the bed, motioning for O’Brian to come join him.

“Didja ever stop to think that maybe it was an early Christmas present?” O’Brian yawned hugely

as he settled his head on his lover’s bicep. “And if you’re good, there’s plenty more like that comin’
down the chimney just for you, Nicky.”

“I don’t know about that.” Valenti winced. “Damn, I’m sore! I think this is going to be one time

when I’m glad that Christmas comes but once a year.”

“Yeah, but you already came twice tonight,” O’Brian pointed out, with another yawn.

“I did.” Valenti sounded thoughtful. “And that’s why I think the next present should be for you,

partner.”

“Whatever you say,” O’Brian mumbled, his eyelids heavy with sleep. “Lemme catch a quick

catnap and we can keep givin’ each other presents all night long.”

The last thing he heard as he drifted off was his partner’s low chuckle against the side of his

face. He felt utterly spent but in a happy, warm, contented way as sleep dragged him under.

Detective Sean O’Brian had finally had enough.

Evangeline Anderson

Evangeline Anderson is a registered MRI tech who would rather be writing. She is thirty-

something and lives in Florida with a husband, three cats, and a college-age sister but no kids
because enough is enough already. She had been writing dirty stories for her own gratification for a
number of years before it occurred to her to try and get paid for it. To her delight, she found it was
actually possible to get money for having a dirty mind and she has been writing steadily ever since.

Visit Evangeline on the Web at http://www.evangelineanderson.com, or email her at

[e-mail].

To read more about the characters and their world, check out The Assignment by Evangeline

Anderson.

Detective Nicholas Valenti, tall, dark and stoic, has been best friends with his partner,

Sean O’Brian for six years. The two men have seen each other through divorce, disaster
and danger and saved each other’s asses more times than Valenti can count. Exactly when
he started seeing his blond, intense partner in another light, Valenti isn’t really sure. He
only knows that he wants O’Brian in a way that had nothing to do with friendship and
everything to do with possession. It is a desire he will have to hide forever because
O’Brian is undeniably straight.

Just as Valenti is coming to grips with his new, unacceptable feelings for his partner

their police Captain puts them on a new case that could blow Valenti’s cover once and
for all. He and O’Brian are going undercover at the country’s largest and most infamous
gay resort to bust a notorious drug lord and stop the shipments of poison cocaine that are
flooding the gay bars all over the city.

Now Valenti will have to make a choice between friendship and desire. He and

O’Brian will play the roles of gay men that will push the limits of their relationship to the
breaking point. Will their time at the RamJack forge a new bond between them or destroy
their partnership forever?

Publisher’s note: The Assignment contains explicit sexual content, graphic language,

and other situations readers may find objectionable (BDSM and homoerotic sex).

The Assignment is now available at Loose Id®

http://www.loose-id.net/detail.aspx?ID=210